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Friday, October 4, 2019

Resolving to Get North Carolina's Central Highway Paved, Oct. 4, 1919

From the Hickory Daily Record, Oct. 4, 1919

Hard Surface Roads Advocated

Greensboro, Oct. 4—The News today says:

Adoption of resolutions favoring the early construction of hard surface road from Beaufort Harbor to the Tennessee line, following the course of the central highway, featured yesterday’s meeting of the trustees of the Central highway. The session, which was held in the assembly rooms of the chamber of commerce, was attended by men from Morehead City on the east and Ridgecrest on the west, as well as a  large number from intermediate points, all of whom were evidently imbued by a common purpose: To press unwaveringly for real highways and not to be parties to the wasting of public funds for the construction of top soil roads in sections where the heavy traffic will quickly render them valueless.

Chairman Henry B. Varner was instructed to appoint one or more Central highway “boosting committees” for the purpose of making a tour of the Central to stimulate interest in the movement for a hard surfice pike from the mountains to the sea. According to present plans the boosters will start at the Tennessee line Monday, October 27, proceeding eastward to the seacoast. If practicable, the same party will make the entire tour; otherwise, the trip will be made in sections, Governor Bickett and James H. Pou, of Raleigh, the latter referred to as the founder of the Central highway, will be asked to make the tour. The other members of the party have not been agreed upon.

The chairman also was instructed to appoint committees to present plans for improving the Central highway to county officials through which the road passes with a view to procurement from the latter of endorsement by “proper resolutions of the construction of such roads and their pledge to pay their one-fourth of the cost of the same.”

“We hereby affirm,” the resolution unanimously adopted by the trustees yesterday set forth, “the justice of the principle of construction of hard surface roads upon the same financial terms as sand-clay and gravel road construction; that is, the payment of one-fourth by the county or road district, one-fourth by the state and one-fourth by the federal government.

The trustees were mindful of the fact that the present state highway commission has regularly declined to lend to hard surface constriction on the same degree of encouragement given to topsoil construction. On topsoil projects counties have been procuring 50 per cent of the funds from the federal government, 25 per cent from the state, while the remaining 25 per cent of the cost was borne by the counties. On hard surface road projects, however, with 50 per cent available from the federal government, counties have been forced to defray the remaining one-half of the cost, no state funds being provided. In effect, this plan has greatly encouraged the building of topsoil roads and penalize the construction of hard-surface highways.

Manifestly displeased with such plans, members of the conference here yesterday repeatedly insited that some definite plan for hard surfacing the Central highway in its entirety be evolved and it was in response to this sentiment that James A. Wellons of Smithfield finally introduced a resolution calling for consummation of that project. Mr. Wellons also wished to have electric lights along the Central hiway, as well as sewer facilities, while he proposed creation of special road districts extending one mile on each side of the Central.

Chairman Frank Page of Raleigh, of the state highway commission, informed Mr. Mellons that his resolution was “a beautiful dream,” but impracticable. (name was Wellons on first two mentions and is now Mellons; don’t know which is correct) Prior to delivery of this pronouncement Mr. Page had declared himself anxious to see all of the Central highway hard surfaced; in fact, he said he would like to see hard surface roads all over North Carolina.

Resolution Is Adopted

Mr. Wellons’s resolution was referred to a special committee for drafting. This committee was composed of G.D. Canfield of Morehead City; N.C. Mulligan of Lexington; H.B. Craven of Ridgecrest; R.P. Coble and G.G. Dickson of Greensboro; and F.H. Brooks of Smithfield.

As prepared and adopted by the committee the resolution received the sanction of the trustees, the document being as follows:

“Whereas the Central highway is the principal thoroughfare the state of North Carolina from east to west, therefore, be it resolved by the board of trustees of the Central highway, assembled in the city of Greensboro, N.C., this the 3rd day of October, 1919;

“That we favor the early construction of a hard surface road over the Central highway, stretching from Beaufort harbor to the Tennessee lien of not less than 16 feet in width, to be constructed under the supervision of the state highway commission, each county paying one-fourth of the cost of the construction of such road, that one-fourth be paid by the state of North Carolina, and that one-half of the expense of same be paid by the federal government.

“We hereby affirm the justice of the principle of construction of hard surface roads upon the same financial terms as sand clay and gravel road construction; that is the payment of one-fourth by the county or road district, one-fourth by the state, and one-half by the federal government.
….


This link shows photographs and contains the story of the Central Highway in Orange County, N.C. http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~orangecountync/history/places/roads/NC10/nc10.html


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